1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extendable pivot shaft mechanism of a camera for pivoting a rotatable grip to a camera body, and also relates to an extendable pivot shaft mechanism incorporated in various apparatuses including a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional mechanism (extendable pivot shaft mechanism) for connecting two devices with each other to allow the two devices both to rotate about a rotational axis relative to each other and to move along the rotational axis relative to each other is difficult to be made to operate smoothly without increasing the size of the mechanism. For instance, the assignee of the present invention has found that providing a camera body with a rotatable grip capable of both rotating about a rotational axis and moving along the rotational axis relative to the camera body via the extendable pivot shaft mechanism improves the operability of the camera. Specifically, in such a rotatable grip of a precision apparatus such as a camera, a higher level of smoothness in operation of the rotatable grip when manually moved relative to the camera body and a high level of stability of the rotatable grip in an operating state thereof (the prevention of unintentional movement of the rotatable grip) is required.